My landlord has a contract with SEC8 but fails to keep up his end,sec-8dose not pay,can landlord sue tenant ?

Flooding,coming down from the half of ceiling that's left in my bathroom& flooding in livingroom ceiling,peeling paint,mold,floor falling in from all the water coming down.my new stove that I was to get, was taken by the super,stuffed up tub,windows that don't work and sometimes water comes out of the light bulb area, the apt has not been painted in about six years, the problem has been going on for years,I have all my rent payments and every last document for the last sixteen years,I've called Sec-8, HPD, and 311. I have all there papers too, I don't owe him anything, and yet he's ruined my credit,how do I fix it. How do these deadbeats get away with the way they ruin people live's, and if you sue you better start looking for another apt and then what if it's the same or worst.and what do they really get,nothing.yet you have to keep going back to court, how is it that the law fails so badly to tenants and dose nothing to deadbeats.

Under law, you are not obligated to pay rent to a landlord if there are outstanding duties that he has been asked to perform to maintain a suitable living area for his tenant(s). If you have done your part in requesting the problems be fixed through proper documentation, and he has not held up his end of the leasing agreement, an eviction is out of the question. And if you do get evicted for withholding your rent, and you can offer proper documentation as to why you have done so, your landlord will be faced with all legal fees and costs to you.

Laura is correct. You need documented proof (photos are sufficient for proof of problems), but you must also have proof that you contacted the landlord (copy of a letter, etc.). Your state and/or city will quite often have "Renter's Rights" that you should have for your own reference. If your living situation is not corrected relatively quickly, you can contact the State Department of Health and Human Services or the Federal Department of Health and Human Services to assist you. He will not be successful in any legal proceeding against you. Don't let this landlord off the hook.